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FIRST SUICIDE OF THE WEEKEND?
>Maui's emergency services chief resigns after facing criticism for not activating sirens during fire
>The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, who has been heavily criticized for not activating disaster sirens during last week’s wildfire response, resigned Thursday, citing health reasons.
>Mayor Richard Bissen accepted the resignation of Herman Andaya effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook.
>“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,” Bissen said in the statement.
>As the death toll rose to 111 a day earlier, Andaya defended not sounding sirens as flames raged. Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world.
>“We were afraid that people would have gone mauka,” Andaya said Wednesday, using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian. “If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire.”
>The system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says they may be used to alert for fires.
>Andaya was to take part in a meeting of the island’s fire and public safety commission on Thursday morning, but it was abruptly canceled.
>Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said Thursday that an outside organization will conduct “an impartial, independent” review into the government’s response to the fires.
>“We intend to look at this critical incident to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness,” Lopez said in a statement. She said the investigation will likely take months.
>https://www.koat.com/article/maui-emergency-services-chief-resigns/44846134